Eighty Ninety — the indie-pop project of NYC-based brothers Abner (vocals, production) and Harper (guitar, production) James — returns with their new single, “Heart on the Line.”
Eighty Ninety delicately balance intimate storytelling with catchy melodies and irresistible pop production on “Heart on the Line.” Abner’s serene signature vocals deliver visceral lyrics about a make-or-break moment in a relationship where you’re confronted with the choice to continue fighting for the love and partnership you’ve built or let it slip away: “Now I’m all choked up / And now I can’t sleep / Are we falling in love / Or apart at the seams? / Maybe we can’t know / Maybe love is the same as belief”
Elaborating on the creative process behind the song, the duo write: “When we produced ‘Heart on the Line’ we wanted it to feel personal — almost like it was recorded late at night after one of the midnight phone calls we’re writing about in the song. But we also wanted the choruses to feel cinematic because even though feelings around these moments are personal, they can feel so huge. To show that contrast, we used minimal verses and lonely, distant counter melodies with sweeping, harmony-stacked choruses.”
Abner and Harper James debuted the Eighty Ninety project in 2016 with their first single, “Three Thirty,” which climbed to #2 on Spotify’s Global Viral Charts. Since the release of their 2016 debut EP Elizabeth, their music has gone on to rack up over 29 million streams and press support from Billboard, Alternative Press and Ones To Watch. Along the way, the duo have even earned a co-sign from Taylor Swift who added their single “Your Favorite Song” to her official Spotify playlist Songs Taylor Loves.
Eighty Ninety fuse intimate storytelling, sticky melodies, and minimalist pop productions built on acoustic instruments and electronic sounds in a style they call “808s and telecasters” — a shorthand for both their music and their anything-goes mentality in the studio. “We let the emotional arc of the song, rather than any set of genre conventions, lead us to instruments and sounds,” the brothers say of their process.
Listen to “Heart on the Line” on all streaming platforms: https://ffm.to/heartontheline